The Montreal Canadiens are now in the quickest portion of the regular season, and it starts with a game against the St. Louis Blues.
Enjoy it while it lasts because the regular season is about to pass us all by in an instant. A lot of teams are hovering around the 50-game mark including the Montreal Canadiens who will be playing the St. Louis Blues tonight for their 50th.
The Habs are going to have a determined team coming at them. St. Louis is third in the Central Division but only three points away from claiming the top seed. Considering the Winnipeg Jets will be without Jacob Trouba for the next 6-8 weeks, the door may be open to do that. They also have the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche sneaking up behind them, so there is little room to falter.
Montreal, on the other hand, may know that the season is over with, but want to come out with a strong effort every night. Additionally, the Habs may have their own demons to rectify in this game as the Blues had a successful time against them the last time they played. Brayden Schenn ended his scoring slump that night leaving the Bell Centre with a hat-trick.
Ironically, all the players on the Habs who had a point that game, save for Tomas Plekanec, won’t be in the lineup. Shea Weber (two goals) and Andrew Shaw (two assists) didn’t make the trip as they’re continuing to nurse their injuries while Daniel Carr (assist) and Jordie Benn (goal) will be healthy scratches. Joe Morrow will be playing in Benn’s place most likely with Jakub Jerabek on the second pair.
Claude Julien also confirmed that Carey Price would be getting his fourth consecutive start for Montreal. He had a tough start against Carolina before the All-Star Break, but it’s tough to hang that on his head with how poor defensively the rest of the team was. On the other side of the ice, the Blues will have Carter Hutton defending their net who’s .943 save percentage leads the league among goaltenders.
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Save for the impact on the standings, there may be other things going on to pay attention to. The Habs and Blues have been coming up in a lot of trade rumours and this will give both teams a chance to see what they may want first hand.
It was too much of a run and gun game for Julien, but that Hurricanes game was one of their better performances offensively. Charles Hudon also got rewarded for the number of scoring chances he’s involved in every night while Max Pacioretty scored his eighth goal in nine games.
The coaching staff preparation as another area that has been hurting the Habs so it’ll be interesting to see what team steps out on the ice at Scottrade Center.
What are your expectations for the game? Will the Habs lock things down more in their own end? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.